Vanilla Orchids
by jmalfoy
Summary: Breakups are a nasty business, especially when involving the two most vicious people in the school. Will they be able to find a common ground and get back together? Oneshot! REVISED!


Second one-shot, so enjoy! Also a fluffy ending!

**Summary: **Draco and Hermione had a huge row that resulted in their break-up. Now the whole school holds their breath every time these two explosive people come within feet of each other. Can their relationship survive doubt, distrust and fear?

…………………………

**Vanilla Orchids**

…………………………

"She's been crying again."

Ron Weasley stopped chewing his food and looked at his friend, who happened to be sitting across from him. "How can you possibly know that? She looks the same to me," he replied around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"And that's precisely why you missed your chance to be with her," Harry Potter answered testily. Honestly, Ron could be such a dunce sometimes. "She's putting up a front to show that lousy ferret that she's better off without him. Her smiles are forced and her eyes are a little red around the edges," he said as they both turned to look at Hermione.

Their head girl was at the moment sitting with a group of girls as they chattered about the graduation ball, which was about two months away. They had already been planning it since the beginning of seventh year, but there were still a few loose ends. Hermione was sitting in the center of the small group of Gryffindor girls, a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and one Slytherin, Pansy Parkinson.

Things had smoothed out after the war, but not all of the Slytherins were cooperating. There had been many loses, from adults and faculty, to young students, but on the whole, things had turned out better than anyone had expected.

Back to Hermione though, she wasn't really participating, but she was writing down the suggestions from the girls that she had agreed on.

"She's not okay, is she?" Ron asked softly.

Harry shook his head. "And though I hate to admit it, neither is Malfoy," he said as he motioned towards the Slytherin table. Ron looked over and watched as Malfoy's eyes left the pretty blonde at his side and raked over Hermione. There was something unguarded on his face before it was gone and he tore his eyes away from her.

"Should we tell Hermione that he's suffering as much as she is?"

Harry looked at Ron with wide green eyes. "Are you kidding? She'll automatically assume that we're defending him and against her because we're guys! Girls are ridiculously irrational when it comes to break-ups and all that rot. No. We just stay quiet and listen to her when she feels like ranting on how much of a bastard Malfoy is."

Ron shrugged. "They were made for each other. They're both bloody stubborn," he said before taking a sip of his orange juice.

"Maybe there is something we can do about this," said Harry as he looked towards one of the most sneakiest Slytherins he had ever met, even more so than Malfoy.

……………………………

Hermione sighed heavily as she made her way towards Advanced Arithmancy, which happened to be her first class of the day. She was sick and tired of her life for the past week. Ron and Harry had been talking about her again, she could tell. They weren't exactly the craftiest people. Their eyes had been moving from her to Dra-Malfoy. _It's Malfoy, damn it._

Arithmancy was the hardest class she had this year, but it wasn't something she, Hermione Granger, couldn't overcome. The class was fairly small and with all four houses. There were only two Slytherins though. Three bloody guesses who one of them was. The other was Blaise Zabini, _his_ best friend. A very handsome best friend who was intelligent, classy, funny, sarcastic, and sneaky.

He was also a big time flirt who hadn't really cared that she had been dating his best friend, and he cared even less now that they were broken up. He had been awfully persistent in trying to get her on a date with him.

As she entered the nearly empty class, she saw that he was already there. He motioned her over and smiled roguishly. "Sit with me, my sweet," he said as he pulled out the chair besides his.

"Why?" Hermione asked suspiciously. He usually sat with his _friend_.

"Because I desire the pleasure of your company," he replied smoothly.

She eyed him slowly, but her perusal was interrupted when Draco Malfoy waltzed in, a smug smile on his pink lips. He looked like had had a nice snog; Hermione knew that look on his face. She pursed her lips and sat down besides Blaise.

Blaise's bluish-black eyes slid from her furious face towards the now similar one on Draco's. He didn't care though, Draco was a fool for letting her go so it was up to him to make Malfoy see that; there was no rule that he couldn't have fun though. He turned to the Gryffindor.

"I was wondering if you'd like to join me on our next trip to Hogsmeade," he murmured.

Hermione looked at him. She had sensed this coming, and for some reason it didn't bother her. She raised her eyes to look at him and after a moment's hesitation, she nodded. "Just don't expect much. I don't think I'm ready for another relationship," she murmured back.

Blaise nodded and smiled. "That's fine. There's just something that I want to ask you and I want to be away from the castle and its thin walls," he said before the teacher walked in.

Draco being Draco, wasn't deterred from sitting besides his best friend, even when he noticed that he and Hermione were having a private conversation. He walked over and sat on Blaise's other side. He vaguely wondered what Zabini was up to, he had an impish smile on his face, kind of like the cat that had just caught itself a nice juicy mouse.

"Students, please turn in your homework," the professor said as she waved her wand and the chalk began to write their warm-up problems on the board.

Hermione was at the front before anyone else had even gotten their work. The professor opened the parchment and nodded. "Very good, Miss Granger. Exceptional work coming from our Head Girl."

Hermione beamed and turned to go back, and nearly ran into her least favorite person at the moment. "Watch it," she snapped before sidestepping him.

"What, don't you fit, Granger?" he drawled.

Was he implying that she was fat? "Not with your fat mouth in the way," she spat back, marching towards her desk, Zabini right behind her.

The few students there were watching with barely veiled interest, some weren't even bothering to not stare. Even though she and Draco were broken up, they were still the couple of the week. Their arguments were the most explosive ever seen, and neither of them would back down from the fight until one of their friends pulled them in separate directions.

Yes, it was highly juvenile, but a challenge was a challenge. It was like that muggle game little kiddies played in nursery-school called 'hot potato.' They threw barbs back and forth until one of them exploded. Many times, she was the one who lost her cool. Draco just knew which buttons to push to send her flying into a fit of anger.

Hermione ran a hand through her unruly hair and sat down besides Blaise again, who was smiling pleasantly. "Stop smiling will you? Thanks to that bloody ferret, I'm in a nasty mood now," she said as she stabbed at her parchment and began to copy down the problems on the board.

Draco eyed her as he sat down and sighed heavily. Though he hated to admit it, he was tired of this situation with Hermione. He bloody missed her, but he refused to apologize over anything said in the argument that had culminated in their break-up. Besides, it was her fault.

Her and that sodding arse, Krum.

All he had asked of her had been to stop writing to him so much. Even after three years, they kept up the pen "friendship," and Draco didn't like it one bit. He remembered Krum in their fourth year, how he had looked at Hermione like a besotted fool. There was no reason why Krum's feelings had to have changed in this time, no matter how much Hermione tried to convince Draco that she and Krum were only friends.

When he had told her that he didn't want her writing to Krum anymore, she had ranted at him non-stop about his lack of trust towards her. Which of course he had then brought up Weasley, and she had brought up his father and their mutual hate in past years, and somewhere along those lines, he had insulted her blood. Hey, he had been angry and hadn't known what he was saying until he had said it.

Okay, so there was _one_ thing he wanted to apologize for saying, but he stood by the rest of what he had said. If she was going to be his girlfriend, she had no business writing to Krum. All this had happened a week ago, on a Friday evening in her head girl quarters; in Gryffindor tower. Zabini was head boy, but his personal dorm was in the dungeons with Slytherin house.

He wasn't sour over not getting picked as head boy, he honestly didn't believe himself worthy, not with all his father had done to instigate He Who Slithers. But that didn't mean that he had to start being nice to the morons who came to the school. He was after all, **Draco Malfoy**. He was rich, handsome, and the most wanted boy in the school.

Never mind all that, there was something about Zabini's attitude with Hermione that was throwing him off. Draco watched them for a few minutes instead of doing his work, he couldn't care less about adv. arithmancy, and noticed Zabini's behavior.

A brush of hands here, a touch of her arm there, he even went as far as to brush Hermione's curls away from her shoulder. Draco's hands tightened around his quill when he heard Hermione's soft laughter after Zabini whispered something to her.

"Mr. Malfoy, is there any reason why you have not started your work?" asked the professor from right besides him.

Everyone turned to look at him with the exception of Hermione and Blaise and Draco felt a dull flush enter his cheeks, accompanied with the fierce desire to yell at everyone. He noticed that Hermione was eyeing him slightly before turning back to her work.

"Mr. Malfoy?" the professor asked again.

Draco pressed his lips into a tight line and forced down a scowl. "No ma'am. I was just getting ready to do the work," he replied dryly. After that, class was thankfully over rather quickly.

Blaise winked at her before leaving. The trip was tomorrow so she'd have to go see what she could wear to make Draco's blood boil when he saw her with Blaise. As she was packing up her things, she saw the Professor approach Draco as the students left the class. Now, Hermione normally wasn't one to eavesdrop, but she couldn't help but overhear.

"Mr. Malfoy, I am greatly concerned about your drop in this class. Until a week ago, your grades were one of the highest, right besides Miss Granger's. what has happened to you to have made your work drop in quality?" she asked softly.

Hermione looked at Draco and he gave her a sad look that quickly turned neutral. He turned back to the professor. "I lost my best tutor," he said dully.

Hermione had had enough, she grabbed her bag and nearly raced out of the classroom without a backwards glance. It was absurd, but just hearing his voice was enough to make her want to start crying. This had to stop. She had done enough crying this past week to last her a lifetime and she was getting sick and tired. She needed to move on.

………………………

"Is this your way of moving on?" asked Lavender.

"What?" Hermione asked anxiously. "Does it look bad?" she asked as she twirled and looked down at herself.

Lavender and Parvati exchanged a look. Then Parvati answered. "Merlin, Hermione. Only you can look at yourself and not find yourself pretty. You look absolutely great and we have no doubt that Draco will be absolutely angry when he sees that you're going out with Blaise Zabini. Plus, you've never looked like this before."

Lavender nodded in agreement and Hermione looked at herself again. She was in a pair of stonewashed flared jeans, a very tight burgundy jumper and a pair of boots that made her seem slightly taller. The entire outfit outlined her body perfectly, and her two friends had done something to her hair so that it was in a braid from the nape of her neck down, but was loose at the tips so that it could curl at the small of her back. She was wearing very light make-up, but her eyes stood out when combined with the color of her jumper too.

"Blaise said he wanted to ask me something, I just hope it's nothing serious," Hermione said as she grabbed her overcoat and made for the door. She stopped at the doorway. "You guys didn't tell anyone else about my date, did you?"

Lavender and Parvati blushed. "We just told Hannah Abott of Hufflepuff."

Merlin, they had only told the biggest gossip after Lavender. "Great. Just great. That means that the whole school knows that I'm going on a date with my ex-boyfriend's best friend." Hermione sighed heavily. "I'll see you girls later."

Lavender tisked twice. "I don't think that's going to be the only thing the school will be talking about," she said.

"Why didn't you tell her what Hannah said about Ginny Weasley?" Parvati asked.

Lavender frowned. "Because I don't want to ruin her date with Blaise. Maybe she won't see Ginny on the trip."

"Or maybe she _will_ see and that's the whole point. I don't think Ginny likes Hermione all that much since she went on a date with Harry in sixth year," said Parvati worriedly.

"Come one, we should keep an eye on Ginny and Hermione. This could turn out to be worse than any situation we have thought of," Lavender said as she grabbed her coat and they ran out of the dormitories.

……………………

"Why don't we go to the Three Broomsticks for something to drink?" Blaise asked Hermione as they walked out of the bookstore.

Hermione smiled and shook her head. "There's a great chance that _he'll_ be there. I don't want to ruin the great time we have had," she said as she linked her arm through his. "I've really enjoyed this after such a rough week," she said with a smile.

"I doubt that Malfoy is going to be there. From what I heard, he had other things to _do. _Anyway, I liked this too. You have the most peculiar views when it comes to house elves." He laughed, deep and sensuous. "But do you remember that there was something I wanted to ask you?" Blaise asked as he steered them towards the pub.

Hermione nodded. "It sounds important. I just hope it's not a marriage proposal," she joked.

Blaise looked at her seriously. Hermione paled. He started to laugh softly. "I'm only kidding, Hermione," he said, still laughing. Hermione laughed with him.

"You scared me for a moment there," she said. "So what is it?"

"Have you thought of where you're going to live after graduation? Most of the students want to move out of their parents home and find some place else where they can get on their own two feet," he said.

She nodded once. Hermione had thought about it, and Harry and Ron had said something about them living together in a shared flat, but she didn't want that. She wanted a place of her own, to become independent from the boys and her parents. Once upon a time she had thought of moving in with Draco and they had talked about it, but that didn't seem likely now; or ever.

"What are you asking?" Hermione questioned.

"That if you haven't found anywhere to go, would you like to be my roommate?" Blaise asked. At the dumbfounded look on her face he smiled. "You don't have to answer me now. Take your time because we still have two months until graduation. You can give me a reply then."

Hermione managed an embarrassed smile. "I'll think about that," she said. He opened the door to the Three Broomsticks and ushered her in. "How long have you been contemplating this roommate deal?" she asked as they took a seat at an empty table.

Blaise ordered a butterbeer for her and some firewhiskey for himself. "Since you broke up with our dear Malfoy."

Hermione looked uncomfortable at the mention of Draco. "So you've basically thought about it for a week."

Blaise nodded and grinned, but their attention was brought to a high familiar giggle. He and Hermione turned to look and spotted a familiar couple across the pub. "Is that… Ginny?" she asked.

"With Malfoy," Blaise spat. Ginny just happened to be Blaise's ex-girlfriend. Curious that. Draco was whispering something against Ginny's ear and she had a hand on his thigh as she laughed.

"Blaise, please let's go. I can't—I don't think I can deal with this right now," Hermione said as she looked away and towards her date.

"We can't do that Hermione. We can't let them have a hold on our lives like this. If we leave now, they'll win," Blaise said darkly.

Hermione sighed heavily and nodded. "Okay. I'll go see what is taking our drinks so long," she said as she stood and pushed her hair over her shoulder as she passed Draco's table. She could feel his silvery eyes on her as she tried to ignore him, but it was quite hard.

"Hello, Hermione dear," Madam Rosemerta said with a smile. "I'm sorry about your drinks, but as you can see we have many tables to wait on and my only worker for today is on her break."

"That's okay, I'll take them myself if you don't mind," Hermione replied. The other woman nodded and went to the backroom to get another case of butterbeer. As Hermione waited, she smelled a faint yet familiar cologne. She had gotten used to smelling it on her pillow for the past few months. But these past few days, it hadn't been there.

"Having fun, are you Granger?" asked a soft voice against her ear.

She drew away with him with a disgusted look on her face. "Dating my friends now, are you, Malfoy?" she spat out his name as if it were something vile and nasty.

Draco smiled evilly and Hermione caught the whiff of firewhiskey on him. "I must say that I've always had a secret kink for dating girls and their friends," he said with a very slight slur.

Hermione pursed her lips and looked away. "Funny, I was thinking the same thing." She turned to look at Blaise and gave him a sexy smile. She noticed the angry flush on Draco's cheeks. His eyes were slightly unfocused and she realized that he was drunk.

A drunk Draco was never good. She had seen him like this twice, before they had dated. But he didn't know how to hold his liquor. Plus, he was exceptionally vicious with his words, no matter how little liquor he had taken in.

"What's going on between you and Zabini?" he asked as he leaned slightly towards her.

"That's none of your damned business. Why don't you go back to Ginny, she's waiting for you," Hermione spat, looking at the girl she had thought her friend. _Conniving little bi—_never mind her.

"She is waiting, isn't she?" asked Draco as his eyes roamed Hermione's face. "I stand by everything that I said to you that night," he muttered.

Hermione glared at him. "Then we have nothing more to say to each other," she spat as she turned to go. Draco caught her arm and Hermione whirled back around, tearing her arm from his grip.

"Why are you in such a rush? I thought we were having a decent conversation!" he said in a loud voice. "Your shag with Zabini can wait, we aren't done talking," he spat out.

Hermione's blood ran cold at his words. "Screw you, Draco. I'm not like you, I don't go shagging every cheap hussy that crosses my path," she hissed, her eyes on Ginny as she said the last.

"There's no need to be a sodding loser about this," Ginny replied angrily. "It's not my fault you let him go."

Hermione's eyes narrowed and she turned back to look at Draco who was watching Blaise with a nasty evil look. "Guess what, Draco?" she asked sweetly. When his eyes were on her, she smiled. "I'm moving in with Blaise after we graduate."

"What?" he asked softly.

"Has the firewhiskey impaired your hearing?" she asked, just now realizing that they were making a very big scene in front of students and strangers. "I said, I'm going to live with Blaise. It's too late for us, so whatever you do from now on could mean zilch to me."

"Let's go," Blaise said as he took her arm and moved her towards the exit.

"You should be warned then, Zabini, that you'll have to share her with Krum. Maybe those articles in fourth year about her, Potter and Krum weren't too off the mark," Draco drawled loudly.

Even now, his lack of trust in her was enough to open the wound in her heart even further. She turned back to him. "Do you want to know why you and I will _never_ work?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly. She didn't want to cry damn it!

"Why is that?" Draco asked snottily.

"Because you're scared. Deep down, or maybe not so deep, you're just a scared momma's boy. You're the same simpering little dick that used to go crying for his mummy whenever things didn't turn out his way. Well, tough luck Draco, mummy and daddy aren't here to take care of you anymore. They're dead, just like my parents. So grow up," she said before turning and making for the door again.

Her words cut deep. They had helped each other heal after the death of their parents, but to have her bring it up in such a petty way of getting back at him was like a blow to his gut. "My father was always right about you muggle-borns," he yelled. "Why do you think I'm with Ginny now?" he called.

"I honestly don't care," she yelled back, her eyes filled with tears, her nose red. "I guess my muggle blood was never enough for you, was it?"

Draco looked at her coldly. "My father always wanted me to marry a pureblood. He didn't want me dirtying generations of pureblood. It would've made him proud to know that I am with one now."

Hermione didn't respond to that, instead she darted out the door without a backward glance. Draco stared after her and felt his heart fall into a pit in his stomach. Merlin, why had he gotten drunk tonight? He hadn't meant any of that! He wasn't with the little Weasley, they were just trying to get Hermione and Blaise jealous.

"Come on, let's go," Ginny said as she took his arm and walked him outside, back towards the castle.

On the path, he was violently ill, and not just because of all the drinking he had done. He was sick because of the things he had said to Hermione. He didn't mean it, and even now, as he felt the sting of angry tears in his eyes, he wanted nothing more than to beg for her forgiveness.

Forget his pride and his arrogance. He wanted Hermione in a way he never thought he would want anyone. But she would never forgive him after all the things he had said to her today.

"We're screwed," Ginny muttered.

Draco propped himself against a tree after dry-heaving for a few minutes and nodded. "She will never forgive me for what I just said, and I don't blame her."

"What are we going to do?" she asked as she tore a leaf from the tree behind her.

Draco uttered the words he never would've thought of saying. "I don't know."

……………………

Hermione sat on her bed, in her own private quarter, fresh from a shower and in her sleeping clothes. She couldn't help the torrent of tears that were falling from her eyes. The things he had said to her had cut deep.

He knew it and the bastard had said them anyway. She had said some hurtful things too, but she had felt wounded and Draco had bloody well deserved them. She looked at her nightstand and found herself looking at the picture of her and Draco together.

It had been taken a few weeks ago, after his Quidditch victory over Ravenclaw. She had run to him and jumped into his arms. He had wrapped her in his embrace and they had kissed. The couple in the picture were hugging right now, and the sight made her feel even worse.

There was a knock at her door and she got up to answer it, swiping furiously at the tears on her face. Lavender and Parvati were there. "Do you want a little company?" asked Lavender.

What came to mind was a big "no," but she couldn't do that to her friends. Instead she nodded and opened the door wider. They walked in and sat on her bed. "We heard about what happened. I told Lav that we should've told you, but she said it was best that we didn't," Parvati said as she looked at her friend nervously.

Hermione's eyes darkened. "You two knew that he was going out with Ginny and you didn't tell me?"

Lavender thrust out a bouquet of flowers before there was any blood shed. More importantly, their blood. "We're sorry, but we thought it was for the best!"

"Giving me flowers isn't going to make it up to me!" Hermione ground out, noting that it was her favorite flowers. Vanilla Orchids. Those were the very first flowers Draco had ever given her and she had loved them since. He gave her a bouquet on every monthly anniversary from the very first month they had started dating. The thought brought spilled a tear from her cheek that she wiped away quickly as she took the flowers from her friend.

"These aren't from us," Parvati hummed happily.

Hermione eyed them warily. "Who are they from?"

"Me," said a voice as he pulled an invisibility cloak off.

"Draco," Hermione breathed.

"Hermione," he said softly.

"And we're leaving. Just don't kill us, Hermione! This wasn't our fault!" Lavender said as she hauled off Parvati, who was staring at the ex-couple eagerly. They left and shut the door behind them.

Hermione dropped the beautiful bouquet in the waste basket, her eyes narrowing as she turned her back to Draco. "Shouldn't you be off shagging, Ginny, or the whole of Slytherin females?" she asked darkly, her eyes watering again.

Draco sighed, she wasn't going to make this easy at all. "I'm sorry," he said before he lost his courage.

Hermione stopped and turned to look at him. Once upon a time he had swore to her that he would never apologize for anything he had ever done, or to anyone for that matter. She turned to look at him coolly, the desire to cry receding.

"Sorry about what?"

"About everything," he said calmly. "For not trusting you, for bringing up past prejudices. For not being able to love you the way you deserve." His eyes were sincere and open.

The last words stopped Hermione's heart completely. "Loving me?" They hadn't once spoken of love since they had started dating. She knew that there was something resembling love between them, but she had been scared to be the first to say it, in case he didn't say it back or didn't feel it.

Draco nodded, stepping forward to take her hands into his and getting to his knees. "I love you, and I didn't mean any of the things that I said. I'm sorry, I was a bloody fool and an idiot. There is nothing going on between me and Ginny Weasley. She's very much in love with Zabini. It has taken me so long to realize that Krum means nothing to you, and it was hard, but I can see it now."

"Draco," she said softly, her voice cracking.

He shook his head, halting her words. "You were right. I was afraid. I was scared because you have been the one thing in my life that has been a constant. Not to mention that you were the purest person I have ever known. I was afraid that I would corrupt your purity, somehow ruin you. I don't deserve you," he murmured as he kissed her knuckles and the tips of her fingers.

"Yes you do," she said in a voice choked with tears. "Because you have good in you. I'm sorry I was so stubborn about Viktor, but he's my friend, just like Ron and Harry. I had a crush on him when I was fourteen, but it never went beyond that," she said as she fell to her knees to join him. "I'm sorry," she said.

Draco nodded. "I feel sorry for Zabini, but the bloke has to know that you're all mine."

Hermione laughed softly, and Draco's heart soared at the sound of it. He didn't want to make her cry. He really did believe that he didn't deserve her, but if he managed to make her even as remotely happy as he was, then he would allow himself this. Her arms wound around his neck and she pressed her lips to his, surrendering herself.

"I love you," he whispered.

"Ditto," she said with a laugh when Draco looked at her in confusion. "That means I reciprocate it."

"Oh," he said before kissing her again, a smirk playing at his lips. "I think we should help Zabini with the Weasley girl," Draco said.

Hermione nodded and smiled. It was nice to know that Draco held no resentment towards his best friend. "We'll think about it later," she whispered before kissing him again.

That night, no one left the head girl dormitory, Parvati and Lavender were the only witnesses to that.

………………………

The sweet smell of banquet food filled the great hall at the graduation ball. But the smells did nothing to make Hermione feel any better. She eyed the roasted duck sitting in front of Ron and nearly gagged.

Harry looked at her in worry, she was nearly green. "You okay, Mione?" he asked.

"Yes," she lied as she stood. "I just need some fresh air," she said as she darted towards the main doors and outside.

Draco watched her go and noticed Pansy watching him. "Go to her. I think she has something she needs to tell you. And I wager that you've something to tell her too."

He smirked and nodded, giving his old friend a small smile before getting up and following Hermione. He found her in the gardens that were faintly reminiscent of the Yull Ball with the fairies and the statues.

………………………

"Green suits you."

Blue eyes raised from her reflection in the lake, a small smile on her lips. "Do you really think so, Zabini?" asked Ginny Weasley.

Blaise nodded. "You had stopped calling me Zabini in public. Only the walls of my room were privy to you calling me that during the heat of the night," he said silkily.

"What was that deal about you moving in with Hermione when she and Malfoy had broken up. Was it just a ply to make us jealous, or was it true?" the red-head asked seriously.

The handsome Slytherin smiled slightly. "It was a lie. I asked Hermione to be my roommate because I knew that she would tell Draco in one of their arguments. And she did, only that you were there too. The boy wonder and his red headed sidekick came to ask me for help in getting Hermione and Draco back together."

Ginny's eyes went wide. "Ron and Harry asked you for help?"

Blaise nodded once. "They knew that if either of them interfered in the lovers quarrel, Hermione would—to put this mildly—have their balls. So I came in, asked her on a date and then rubbed it in Draco's face."

"You should be proud that things worked out the way you wanted it to. Imagine if they hadn't gotten together, what would you have done, moved in with her?" Ginny asked flatly.

He looked at her shrewdly and smirked when Ginny's eyes darkened. "We would've tried the roommate business, but you know as well as I do that Draco is a stubborn arse and he would've tried getting to Hermione sooner or later," Blaise said as he leaned back against a large rock, his eyes looking over the pretty girl.

Ginny wasn't a shy girl by nature, but she began to feel nervous under Blaise's scrutinizing gaze. "I should go back inside, it's getting cold," she said as she rubbed her bare arms.

Blaise shook his head and took off his coat, placing it over the small girl. Ginny looked at him and smiled sadly. "We're just like them," Blaise said softly. "Like Granger and Malfoy, I mean."

"In the aspect that we're too bloody stubborn?" she asked with a small smile.

"Yes," he said with a nod. "But I liked that about you. I missed fighting about the little things and then making up," he whispered against her ear, his fingers moving over the silky strands of her long hair.

Ginny's eyes looked slightly glassy. "Do you see us having a future?" she asked softly.

"If you want us to, we will. But we'll never know unless we try. I want you in my life, Weasley," he whispered as he cupped her face and kissed her cheeks then moved slightly towards her lips. "Will you give me the chance?"

Ginny smiled and nodded. "I guess if Hermione and Malfoy were able to look past so many prejudices, we can too. you'll just have to suffer through five out of six of my brothers, my father, _and _my mother," she said with a small laugh.

Blaise smiled and nodded. "I believe I can handle that. I already have Ronald on my side, I don't think the others will be too hard."

Ginny just looked at him nervously. "Right," she said. "They're _not_ too hard." They linked their hands together and made their way back towards the great hall, but they came across Potter, Weasley, and Pansy, followed by what looked like the whole school creeping through the garden.

………………………

Hermione was sitting on a stone bench, rubbing her temples slowly. A beautiful smell hit her senses and she opened her eyes and looked around in surprise. All around her, the bushes had sprouted vanilla orchids, and the fairies were dancing above them.

That was when she saw him standing across from her, a few feet away.

"What's all this?" she asked.

Draco waved his wand without a word and a bouquet of her flowers fell into her lap. Hermione picked them up and noticed something glittering in the center. She reached in and plucked out a slender ring made of silver and with red rubies all around it. She started when Draco pulled her up by her hands and held them.

"Will you do me the immense honor of becoming Hermione Malfoy?" he asked as he slipped the engagement band onto her finger. "I want to wake up and see your eyes every morning. I want to know that you're not alone, and I don't want to be alone either."

Hermione bit her lip and nodded. "Yes," she said as her voice cracked. "Of course I will!" she cried as she hugged him and then kissed him tenderly.

They both jumped when there was a tremendous cheering all around them, and they looked up to see Hogwarts students and professors clapping. "It's about time!" Ron Weasley said with a loud whistle.

"Were you intending on making this public?" Hermione asked in amusement.

"No," Draco replied. "Bloody hell, I'm going to kill Pansy for this."

"No you won't," Pansy called. "You're going to be too happily married to take time off to kill me and get sent to Azkaban."

Hermione laughed softly and then noticed Lavender and Parvati making hand movements at her. She shook her head. This was too public to tell him her news, she had wanted something private. Their mimes were getting ridiculously funny, so she sighed and nodded.

"Draco, there's something I want to give you too," Hermione said.

"Don't tell me that you were planning on proposing to me," he said with an amused smirk.

Hermione grinned and shook her head. "Hold out your hands," she said, taking out her wand.

Draco looked at her suspiciously but then did as she had told him. She waved her wand and produced a small package wrapped in silk. "What's this?" he asked.

"Open it," said Hermione excitedly.

He did, undoing the sash holding it closed. When the silk slid open, he was left gazing down at something he hadn't been expecting. It was a little booted ensemble made of soft, pastel green material. Small enough for a newborn baby. There was a note on top that said: _From Baby, To Daddy._

His eyes were round when he turned to look at Hermione. "You're—?"

Hermione nodded and smiled widely. "Yes! Are you happy?"

Draco engulfed her in a hug. "Yes, baby, I'm the happiest man in the world," he murmured against the smooth skin of her neck.

Another round of cheers followed Hermione's present to Draco when they realized what it was with the help of Lavender and Parvati.

And right there, in the center of a ring of friends and Vanilla Orchids, Hermione and Draco had never felt more at home.

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Woohoo! My second one shot! I hope everyone enjoyed it, and don't worry I'm working on all my stories right now, I haven't forgotten any of them. I'm also working on the stories from my other account which haven't been updated in more than six months, so please be patient with me.

I know that almost in all the fanfics, Draco hurts Hermione one way or another, in this one, they hurt each other equally, so it's balanced. Maybe I'll work on one where Hermione has to beg for Draco's forgiveness and not the other way around. If anyone has plot suggestions for a one-shot, let me know.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read and let me know what you thought. I had this idea in my mind for a few months now, so I finally got around to writing. See you guys soon!

Byebye

!jmalfoy!


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